Culina still tired of being second-class citizen

By Michael Cockerill

September 22, 2009 — 10.00am

A CONTRITE Newcastle Jets coach Branko Culina has apologised to his Sydney FC counterpart Vitezslav Lavicka for his withering post-match outburst on Sunday, but won't backtrack from his view that homegrown coaches continue to be treated like second-class citizens.

Culina admitted yesterday the frustration of watching his side finish empty-handed after a positive performance had boiled over in the post-game press conference, and he had been ''out of order'' in focusing on Lavicka instead of emphasising a broader message.

Culina became incensed when he heard Lavicka mentioning the long list of injuries and suspensions he had to deal with, saying: ''I don't care what their coach says and the fact that he's on $500,000 and I'm on 50 bucks. If that's what foreigners are going to bring to this game then let's have more local coaches.''

Advertisement

But 24 hours later, Culina conceded he had been wrong to point the finger at his Sydney FC counterpart, saying: ''Looking back, it wasn't the right thing to do. I'd like to apologise to him, I was out of order. Unfortunately, a lot of frustrations boiled over, and I let them get the better of me. There was no excuse.''

Culina, however, has no intention of backing down from his long-held belief that homegrown coaches are judged harshly in comparison with their imported counterparts, and believes plenty of his local colleagues hold the same views.

''It wasn't the appropriate stage to say what I did, but I will keep saying what I believe in,'' he said.

''I'm sick and tired of the crap the local coaches have to put up with, especially from some of the so-called experts out there who influence public opinion. For some reason, whatever we do isn't good enough, while every foreign coach is a genius. I mean, wherever I go, people are bagging Graham Arnold. Yet how many people know what he knows? The man has played and coached all over the world, so what's the difference?

''I tell you what it is. If [Guus] Hiddink asked for a jet, he got a jet. If 'Arnie' asked for a bus, he got a bike. We don't get the same money, we don't get the same resources, and yet we're expected to do a better job. How is that fair?

''Sooner or later, people need to get a perspective on this. I bet any money some of my colleagues feel the same way, but maybe they're not stupid enough to get up there and say it. But they should. I mean, who produced the Vidukas, the Kewells, the Emertons, the Cahills? If we're all stupid, we haven't done badly to get to where we are today, have we?''

Culina was, however, full of praise for Jets debutant and Iraq international Ali Abbas, who came off the bench for the last 25 minutes and tormented the tiring Sky Blues last weekend. ''It was a fantastic debut, we're really pleased with him, and he's only going to get better,'' Culina said.

Newcastle are still looking for another striker, and English veteran Michael Bridges, who had a brief spell with Sydney two years ago, arrives for a trial this week. Bridges, 31, has played for Carlisle United and Milton Keynes Dons since leaving Sydney.